The Lonely Path
by Soxes in Boxes
Summary: Postgame one-shot. A very changed love returns for a glance, and maybe some reassurance, but some things, even Cole can't help. Not too spoilery, but it might not make much sense if you haven't seen the Solas romance played all the way through, or at least know about the end game content.


It all belongs to Bioware, of course. I'm just mucking about with their characters.

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><p>Cole feels it slipping away again. It's hard, because he desperately wants to remember it this time. It's important. Someone is hurting, has been hurting, and maybe he could fix it if he could just hold on; but he feels it going away.<p>

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><p>"<em>I know you're there. You feel different. There is more."<em>

"_Hello, Cole."_

"_Will you make me forget again?"_

"_There are some hurts that you cannot help, my friend. It could only make matters worse."_

"_I could help you. __**She**__ could help. Wants to help."_

"_I would not ask my worst enemy to endure this burden. She might help, but… It simply cannot be. This is a path I must walk alone."_

"_Then why did you come?"_

"_Things are not… as I thought they would be. So much is changed, but so much else remains."_

"_She doesn't laugh anymore. The mirror across from the desk is covered. Cannot look, cannot see the new face. The face of a child to everyone who used to matter. Cold fingers touch her cheeks. They tingle, his fingers with magic, her cheeks with… something. The way her body tingled when they danced. Not the same as with the traitor. Not flashy, not dangerous. Not performed in front of a crowd for gasps of pleasure and scandal from a roomful of Shemlen hiding behind their gilded faces. Simple, and graceful. The band keeps playing, even though so many died, and it's stupid. The Human uniform is stuffy, itchy, and wrong. There is blood on her boots. But then she is dancing and she is not the Inquisitor any more. Not a wild elf in a roomful of people who hate that she has a reason to be there, not the only person who can heal the sky. Just a woman, dancing with a man who makes her body tingle."_

"_It will hurt less, in time. She will forget."_

"_She won't. I asked. 'No, Cole. There is a bond, and no matter how much Thedas might wish differently, no matter how much __**he**__ might wish differently, I am Dalish. Bonds are important.' She hurts, but she says it would hurt worse if I made her forget."_

"_It is different for mortals. Time will help, and one day, there will be someone who will make her want to forget."_

"_There is a man. An elf. A crafter with markings on his face like the ones on her old face. He watches her when she is in the courtyard. He went away. She barely noticed, but then he came back. A bottle of honey and flowers and wine. A gift from the Clans. A taste of home. She smiled. It did taste like home, an old home that no longer fit, but it was something. She smiles, but then he touches her face. His fingers are the right size, almost the perfect shape, but they are too warm. He leans forward, his hair brushes against her cheek, and that is wrong too. She lets him kiss her. He feels like light and wind and freedom, but she says goodnight and closes the door. She weeps, and remembers dancing in bloody boots. It was real. You said it was real. She does not want to forget."_

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><p>"Cole? Who are you talking to?" The Inquisitor's voice is not like it was. Even when she tries, her voice is different, lonelier than it was before. Her mark is bright, too bright, but from underneath it, her pain tugs at him, washes the last bits of memory away like grains of sand pulled into the ocean by the tide.<p>

"I don't know."

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><p>Notes<p>

I never intended for my first Inquisitor to be a Dalish. I'm a total dwarf fanatic, but after spending hours carefully crafting my plucky little Cadash, then several more hours playing through the intro in and around Haven, I found that I could no longer stand Sumalee Montano's voice performance. It's weird, because I like her in other things, but my Cadash is roguish; a charming scamp, and Montano's delivery was just so… wooden. Disheartened, I deleted poor Brigid, and moved on to Lύthien. The voice acting was great, and though it wasn't really a conscious choice at first, the poor elf fell head over heels for Solas, and promptly got her face changed and her heart broken for her trouble. I felt so sad for her that I decided to write her a sweet little post-game ending to make myself feel better; maybe one where she moved on, found a new love, or at least one where she used her superpowers, link to Mythal (because _of course_ she drank from the pool), and determination to embark on some sort of journey to find _him_. She had other ideas though, and informed me in no uncertain terms that no, she would not be leaving the Inquisition, it was her chance to make the world a better place for her people, and nothing is more important to her than that. Also, she would certainly not be "moving on" from her love any time soon, and that frankly, she was rather disgusted that I would even suggest such a thing. This little drabble is the result of my squabble with a fictional character in whose creation I played only the barest part. It doesn't change anything, really, but I still felt like something had to be said.


End file.
